Bigger Than The Both of Us
by Goat Goddess
Summary: Songfic about Snape and a lost love featuring Jimmy Buffett's Bigger Than the Both of Us from Riddles in the Sand. Definatly AU, set after Voldermort's defeat. Silly bit of romantic fluff. I just thought Snape needed a girlfriend.


This is my first fanfic, and my first songfic. As you can tell I am a confirmed parrothead.

Thanks to Jimmy Buffet for giving us "Riddles in the Sand" and to JK Rowling for introducing us to Harry Potter and company.

Warning: total and complete fluffy silliness. Don't expect any major plot changes or revelations. Some mild adult language and situations, implied violence.

All the characters belong to JK Rowling. Wish I had thought them up. Wish I had her bank account...

**Bigger Than The Both Of Us **

The moon's smiling over my shoulder  
I know these same stars will shine when I'm older  
So I'm keeping heaven on my mind  
'Cause a good love is so hard to find

I must be insane, Snape thought to himself as he settled deeper into the seat of the 747. Normally he wasn't adverse to Muggle transportation, and rather enjoyed air travel that didn't include freezing his balls off on a broom, but this was an exception.

To be frank, he was scared shitless.

Not of air travel, not of the possibility of terrorists or crashes or even birds being sucked into the big jet engines, but of what was waiting at the end of the flight.

Or not waiting. Dumbledore hadn't been too clear on that point.

The Wizarding Wars were finally over. Voldermort was dead. So were a lot of other people. Potter had survived, although Snape wouldn't give sixpence on how long his sanity would hold out. Granger, he was convinced, had lost her mind, evidenced by her wedding to Ron Weasley. Snape had already had several nightmares concerning what their offspring would be like when the little red headed know it all horrors made an appearance in his first year potions classes in the years to come. And his days as a spy were over, thank whatever gods there were. Dumbledore's testimony before the Ministry of Magic had gained Snape their grudging admiration and a terse thank you, as well as an Order of Merlin, First Class. As he'd once heard one of his students say, big fat hairy deal. The Ministry was handing those things around like tissues these days. All he had wanted to do was sleep for a week, get drunk, and get laid, not necessarily in that order. Then Dumbledore had summoned him to his office.

"I'll get right to the point, my boy", he'd said after Snape had turned down a chocolate frog. "Have you ever thought of going to New Orleans?".

Snape looked up sharply. That was not what he was expecting. One eyebrow slanted upward. "Whatever for?" he asked, trying to sound disinterested.

"Because that is where she is".

"And just who would that be, Headmaster", knowing all the while what the answer would be.

"I believe her name is Maggie".

Snape exhaled slowly. "As you recall, the last time I saw her I nearly killed her. I doubt that she wants to see me again. Ever".

"Nonsense, my boy. That spell you hit her with is what saved her from the one Bellatrix LaStrange was trying to cast. If it were not for you, she would have died."

"No, instead she ended up badly injured and lost the child she was carrying. I don't think she will be very happy to see me again. Ever."

Dumbledore steeled his fingers and gave Snape a long thoughtful look. It was a look he knew only too well. Dumbledore had been meddling. Again.

"You didn't." Snape said, it wasn't a question.

"I did".

"Oh, hell". Snape buried his face in his hands. "And what did she say".

"She said: 'Tell him I'll meet him at the airport'".

"Is that all?".

"That's all. What it means, I do not know. That you will have to discover for yourself."

So here he was, sitting in the first class section of a Delta Airlines nonstop flight from London's Heathrow Airport to New Orleans. The plane would be landing in about an hour. He glanced out the window. A full moon rose fat and white off to his right. Unbidden, the words to a song he hadn't heard in years played in his head. "The moon's smiling over my shoulder". Who sang that damned thing anyway. Jimmy Sideboard or something like that. Some damned American singer he'd never heard of until he'd met Maggie. Then he remembered the name of the album "Riddles in the Sand". She had played the thing so much it was a miracle the tracks hadn't worn out.

And it's bigger than the both of us  
Deeper than the sea  
Tossing on the water riding destiny  
Bigger than the both of us  
Farther than the eye can see  
We're dancing, our souls are dancing  
Infinity

That was his Maggie. Infinity personified. Dumbledore had recruited her from America during the first Wizarding war. A natural telepath and an extremely talented witch she had been a part of the US Army's National Security Agency. Dumbledore had recruited her while she was recovering from injuries received during the Persian Gulf War. She had agreed to teach Occulmancy to members of the Order of the Phoenix. Snape had been one of her first students. At the time, he was playing both sides, hoping to come out in a decent position no matter who won. As skilled at Occlumancy as he already was, he was the first to admit he didn't have half the talent she did. Nor had he ever met anyone who's mind was as tightly controlled and sealed as hers. Then one day, and he never was sure how or why it happened, she let all the guards down and let him into her mind.

And he fell in love with her.

Easy as that. He looked into her mind and saw a heart that was as light and pure as that of a child, in spite of the horrors of war, the memory of death and destruction, and growing up in a family that had made his seem like Ozzy and Harriet. There was a part of her the world couldn't touch. He didn't know such a thing existed. She had looked inside his mind and soul and had found something that was worth caring about, making her one of the few people in his life who had ever even tried. All he had wanted to do was protect her. And as far as he was concerned, he had failed miserably.

She had been kidnapped by Voldermorts henchman. Voldermort had wanted to use her talent for telepathy to seek out and destroy any who were against his mad power grab. She had refused. Voldermort had ordered her tortured until she agreed to join him and Bellatrix LaStrange had eagerly volunteered for the task. Snape had managed to fire off a Shield charm before Bellatrix could conjure her first cruciatis. Maggie had fallen, unconscious at her feet. Voldermort, angry that his plans were not being carried out, had then ordered her killed. Snape had managed to convince Voldermort that having a former member of a highly elite government agency disappear under rather dubious circumstances would bring unwanted attention to the Death Eaters at a time when they were only beginning to gain power. He had promised Voldermort he would Obliviate her memory and leave her at the American Embassy in London. Voldermort had eventually agreed, but not before having Bellatrix send a few more cruciatus curses Maggie's way. Snape had picked her limp body up from the ground and apparated to St Mungo's. He had handed Maggie over to the Healers and asked for Dumbledore. Dumbledore had arrived soon after, with several members of the Order of the Phoenix. Snape, sickened by what he had witnessed, agreed to spy for Dumbledore. He had refused to leave the hospital, even for a few minutes, until he learned that she was out of danger and would survive. Then the Healer had delivered the heart-wrenching news, that Maggie had been pregnant, and as a result of the multiple curses used against her, had lost the child.

His child.

He wept for the first time since his mother had died.

Now he was on a plane that would be landing in New Orleans and she would be there to greet him. The stewardess was coming down the aisle, collecting glasses, someone was making an announcement that all seats and tray tables should be in their upright and locked position and that all seat belts should be fastened. Snape took a deep breath, looked down at the moon reflected onto the dark waters of Lake Ponchartrain, and, for the first time in a long time, felt the faint stirring of hope in his heart.

You know there's a million ways to fail  
But I know this isn't just a fairy tale  
It's a one in million paradise  
And I know love is the light in your eyes

Customs was a nightmare made worse by a luggage screener with a Cajun accent that was pure bayou. After he was finally cleared, had his passport stamped, and collected his carry on bag, he made his way down what had to be the longest corridor ever constructed.

Then he saw her.

His breath caught in his throat. His heart started racing. She was lovely. Long hair gone nearly silver done in one long thick braid that hung down her back, huge green eyes behind her glasses. Eyes the color of wet leaves, the irises ringed in black. She was a small women, standing five foot two in her sandals, wearing a flowing dress made of some soft gauzy fabric that matched her eyes.

Then her eyes met his. The world stopped. Time stopped. And she was in his arms. And somehow he was kissing her.

Eventually the kiss broke. He looked into her eyes, his mind sought hers, found it, found her thoughts, found her heart, found the sparkling white light that was Maggie.

"I never thought I would see you again". He said.

"I'm here", she said.

"Do you forgive me?".

"For what?"

"For being a total and complete ass. For not coming back for you 18 years ago. For ever letting you go. For hurting you. For..."

"Severus, shut up! None of that matters. That was then, this is now. Come on, let's get out of here and find some place quiet'.

She wrapped her arm around his waist and led him to baggage claim. He grabbed his suitcase off the the carousel, and followed her to her car. It was a little yellow Mustang convertible, with the top down.

"Ready to cruise, Big Guy?" she asked.

"Ready when you are", he said. She pulled out of the parking structure, and onto I-10.

"I live on the North shore now. Across the Lake. You flew over it on the way in". They were turning off I-10 onto Causeway Boulevard toward Covington. He could smell the salt water as they approached the bridge. "It's quieter than New Orleans. I've got 40 acres of land and raise goats. In case you were wondering where Dumbledore gets his stores of Bezoars, its from me."

"So you're his goat lady".

"Yepper, that would be me."

"I have missed you so much" he said. "I can't believe I'm here with you."

"Me neither. Took long enough. One things for certain, I never stopped loving you."

He reached across the console and took her hand, held it to his lips, his tonge gently licking the back of her hand, tasting the warmth of her flesh. He could feel her pulse increase, matching his own.

"I shall never leave you again".

She freed her hand from his long enough to punch the on button of the cd player, and then laid it gently against his cheek.

Music filled the air. The moon shone down on the still waters of the lake, and in their hearts, their souls were dancing...

And it's bigger than the both of us  
Deeper than the sea  
Tossing on the water riding destiny  
Bigger than the both of us  
Farther than the eye can see  
We're dancing, our souls are dancing  
Infinity...


End file.
